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Online auction for mining workers

Rania Spooner

"There's enough engineers, truck drivers and geologists in Australia right now to staff a big mine," says co-founder of FIFObids, Antonluigi Gozzi.

A website, inspired by Australia's skilled labour shortage, has seen resources companies bidding for workers like eBay bargains this week.

The privately funded FIFObids website, where companies can bid on the anonymous skills profiles of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers was officially launched on Monday after more than 14,000 job hunters and 500 companies registered to enter the online market place. FIFO workers are those who do not reside in the city where they work, but travel there for a several days on, then home again for rest days.

The site, first revealed in April, registers workers anonymously, listing their skills and experience, location, roster and job preferences, minimum hourly rate and availability. Companies search the database to identify matches and bid for the available workers. Workers review bids and if they accept them, their personal details are sent to the company for follow up. Workers use the site for free, whereas companies pay a spotter's fee based on the accepted hourly rate bid.

The site attracted more than 30,000 unique visits on its first day of trading.

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It is the brainchild of Michael Haywood, who owned two mid-tier gas and mining services companies, and Antonluigi Gozzi, a consultant for a large construction and mining recruitment firm.

Given rapid cross poaching in the increasingly competitive resources labour market, the pair wanted to create a system to streamline the rehiring process.

"It was hard to hold on to people because when a job became available with better pay, they would move across quite quickly, so the labour force [would] become very unstable," Gozzi said.

Through the process of creating an open labour market, FIFObids unearthed some new information on available skilled Australian workers looking for jobs, which stands against arguments that foreign workers are already needed to build Australian mines.

Last month, the Australian Government approved mining billionaire Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting's bid to bring 1700 foreign workers into the Pilbara on an Enterprise Migration Agreement for the Roy Hill iron ore project,

At the time, Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said the first EMA was an "important development in helping to meet critical skills shortages in the resources sector," in a statement.

But Gozzi said about 95 per cent of the 3800 active job seekers on the FIFObids site in its first week were Australian, with an average 12 years' experience in the mining or oil and gas sectors.

"We believe we have evidence there's lots of labour out there, which is highly skilled," Gozzi said, although he also conceded outside help may be needed in the future.

"But there's enough engineers, truck drivers and geologists in Australia right now to staff a big mine."

There are another 10,901 candidates who are at various stages of registration on the website.

The booming mining and resources sectors have the added complexity of having temporary and specific labour cycles, Gozzi said: "you need highly skilled people for short periods of time."

"Companies are overwhelmed by the amount of administration that is necessary to manage high turnover," he said.

"Many companies go to labour hire companies to offload the problem – this makes labour even more expensive than it is already.

WA recruitment advisory firm Checkside's managing director Chris Bates said most executive and key support roles could be managed in house, but when it came to blue collar, technical skilled and semi-skilled workers there were real shortages to contend with.

"It's pretty apparent that traditional sources of recruiting people aren't meeting the need and filling the gaps," Bates said.

"We're saying you've got to be across this to our clients."

Bates said he has started using the site on behalf of a couple of smaller clients but had yet to lay his first bid.

Only time will tell if FIFObids can help solve the labour problems of the resources sector.

11 comments

"But there's enough engineers, truck drivers and geologists in Australia right now to staff a big mine."

I sincerely doubt these people are sitting around without a job at present.

How many of them are currently unemployed, Mr Gozzi? And how many are just on your site out of curiosity to see if someone is willing to pay them more than they are currently getting?

Commenter

Alx

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 9:33AM

57 with an MC Licence, licenced Mechanic, Police clearance, Senior First Aid, Cert 2 in Surface Mining real time experience on Cat 777 773 Bell/Hitachi moxies full simulator qual Cat 789 793 no criminal record non smoker & WA mine workers surveillance Like many others my age & over 45 I CAN NOT even get an interview Despite over 400 applications less than 40 have even been replied to with all rejected. There are many suitably qualified people currently unemployed the problem, they are over 45, when HR departments/recruitment agencies are staffed by people in the 20's early 30's who see us being the same age as their "GRANDPARENTS" we have no hope, they will not employ people perceived as being as old as Grand Pop. Those I have spoken to & there are plenty of them will work any rosters, at any location wet or dry site night or day work some are prepared to relocate most happy to FIFO.Perhaps a little more research before making such broad ill founded statementsThe feeling amonst those wanting to get into mining & many already there is that the 457 Visas are a trade off offered by the Government for the Mining Companies not opposing the MRRT with no relationship to the real position in terms of Labour shortages as these are being inflated by the mining companies to help build a case for cheap foreign labour to break down terms & conditions of employment The thing that makes labour expensive is the obscene charges of recruitment agencies these have proliferated as a result of the mining companies not wanting to do their own hiring so don't blame the labour for excessive Labour costs as a result of company controlled employment procedures, imported labour is not the answer

Commenter

UNEMPLOYED

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 10:38AM

@ UNEMPLOYED: I mean no disrespect whatsoever, but if you are writing your job applications with the same standard of English grammar as your comment, then this could seriously affect your job chances. I found your comment quite difficult to read due to the very long sentences with no commas or other punctuation to fragment them - the last sentence in particular is a whopper!

Commenter

Kev247

Location

Sydney

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 4:31PM

@ UNEMPLOYED | Sydney June 20, 2012, 12:38PM

Why are you telling potential employees your age before any job offer? Leave your age and DOB off your CV. There should be no need for any potential employer to require those details until they make a job offer and you need to sign forms. If they ask for your age over the phone sidestep the question by telling them you are fit, healthy and ready to start.

Just my 2c

Commenter

Reality Check

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 5:10PM

@Kev247 - Aren't you from Brisbane and here to help us?

This is a blog not a job application. UNEMPLOYED's last sentence is half as long when you realise he forgot a full stop before the capital letter he did include before starting his next sentence.

Very surprising critique from someone apparently so verbose!

@ UNEMPLOYED, my cousin aged about 42 has had the same problems as you. He eventually had success going through agents and hire companies. The "face to face" approach made all the difference. They also whipped his resume into the shape expected by these young HR people. He had one 12 month stint and is now knocking back other offers.

If you aren't getting what you want doing it the way you are doing it, then try a different way...

Commenter

Dougal

Location

On the front-line opposite Kev24-7 island

Date and time

June 21, 2012, 11:36AM

The shift to people-less trains and trucks will help eleviate the shortage. This move also increases the safety as many areas of mine site become unmanned. From an Asset management perspective many assets are being fabricated oversea. Maintenance is an ongoing issue but better engineered solutions and designs will see this asset life-cycles increased. In the not to distant future I can see the mining boom employing less people, we are seeing a climax in demand for workers.

Commenter

PeteGeek

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 9:39AM

Whether your importing doctors to work in remote communities, miners or IT workers an overseas qualification isn’t the same as an Australian qualification. It might sound simple enough bring in skills from overseas to do the job, but in the end you're only getting what you pay for. Sites like FIFObids are just in it for themselves, but leave the community at large to deal with the consequences of down skilling.

Commenter

DC

Location

Melbourne

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 10:09AM

FIFO Bids does not seek to import labour they are seeking to see Australians employed first. One problem not even mentioned is the lack of English skills of imported workers how do they read operators manuals, service notices, production reports, radio communicate with other trucks and operational vehicles this is another ost of imported labour and FIFO from O?seas has to be more expensive than FIFO from Aus Mining companies could up skill Aussies just like they would have to do with imported labour

Commenter

19BINDA

Location

SYDNEY

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 10:51AM

Do the same for the construction industry. No Irish, European or American wireman 220volts. Australians first. Not enough qualified Australains. Train more. Seriously...have you sat for a mining pre employment test? Its like a selection for a trip on Nasa space programme to Mars. Psychometric Test??????

Commenter

k

Location

meow

Date and time

June 20, 2012, 10:06PM

FIFOjobs is a gimmick and will see many register just simply to see what its like and see if they can attract a better offer. It does not solve the labour supply and there is a definitive shortage. UNEMPLOYED is also right in that the young kids engaged as recruitment advisors do not have the industry knowledge to interpret resumes correctly and many good people get left behind. One company looking for 10 operators for 773 trucks were told by their recruitment team than there were none applying. When looked into further it turns out plenty with 777 and 785 experience had applied but ignorant recruiters didn't see the connection!!! A good in-house team or a good agency is worth its weight in gold but sadly high volume demand sees high staffed recruitment teams and knowledge isn't there to ensure quality outcomes hence so many frustrated qualified people out there. FIFO jobs will come and go and the industry doesn't need more gimmicks it needs people that know how to recruit, understand the sector they are recruiting for and provide good outcomes to business. Over 900 agencies in Perth and all supposedly subject matter experts!!! Wouldn't be 90 that really know what they are doing and it's an industry that now a money making racket as opposed to a high quality add value service.

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